Week 13/MWF Days 36, 37, 38; TR Days 25 and 26 Monday, November 14-Friday, November 18

Week 13/MWF Days 36, 37, 38; TR Days 25 and 26 – Monday, November 14-Friday, November 18

Students will be able to continue the workshop process and participate in another Style and Convention Seminar before the end of the week, when A4 is due. Some instructors will only provide one workshop experience, rather than two, depending on the needs of the class and your students. It is up to you to decide. Additionally, students will be introduced to A5 and A6 in a low stakes manner. This will be accomplished through:
Participating in a second Peer Review Workshop, if you choose to do so.
Participating in and applying the skills of a Style and Convention Seminar tailored to the needs of your class.
Receiving an introduction to Unit 3 (A5 and A6).

Last week, students were able to use what they garnered from the conference experience, reading workshop, analyzing an exemplary argument, and peer suggestions from the first workshop to aid their revision process and prepare for the final Style and Convention Seminar.
These activities and experiences will have set the foundation for a second workshop experience and the final step of editing as directed by previous style and convention elements and knowledge gained from this week’s Style and Convention Seminar.
At the end of this week, students will turn in A4. We typically wait a day before introducing the next assignment, but this time, after completing the A4 journey, it is a good idea to introduce Unit 3 (A5 and A6) before students depart for fall break. This way, you can hit the ground running when they return. Plus, they can be thinking about the next project while away, which introduces them to another principle: incubating ideas is an important strategy for writers.

Next week is fall break. Hallelujah.
Use this time to grade A4.
By introducing Unit 3 (A5 and A6) at the end of this week, your class will be ready to take the plunge when they return.

If you have selected to facilitate two workshops, select another workshop activity, adapted to the needs your particular class exhibit.
Design a Style and Convention Seminar that best suits the needs of your class. It is often beneficial to create a mini-lesson that is aligned with patterns of error you recognize in much of your students’ work. Be sure to allow for a Q & A session, and, as always, be sure to allow for application of the skills reviewed in the seminar to your students’ own work, so it will ultimately be of value.
Make sure to include a Postscript for A4 that offers an opportunity for reflection on both A4 and a more global reflection of the CO 150 journey as way to set the stage for the end of the semester.
Develop a fun way to introduce Unit 3 (A5 and A6). Students may be dragging at this point and the assignment might need an extra dose of glitter and fairy dust. Remind them that the end is in sight and that in many ways Unit 3 is our substitute for the final exam. It is the final demonstrator of their ability to demonstrate strong flexibility as a writer who understands rhetorical situation. Consider one of the following:

Pace yourself over fall break and make it a goal to make a dent in the A4 arguments. This is great for your students and for you as you head into your own personal finals. If you can have the A4 arguments graded all the better because this would give a clear indicator to students about where they stand in the course. If they know where they stand, they’ll have a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the final unit as well as a reasonable assessment of their performance in the course, which will fend off surprise and disappointment when grades are ultimately turned in. Doing this now also provides an opportunity for resilience and recovery during the last few weeks of the course, which is to say that students can demonstrate that they have it in them to see this through and to put the best foot forward if A4 didn’t go as well as planned. Their final effort should be carefully observed, duly noted, and count for something! Keep this in mind as you conduct these last few weeks of class. They are in survival mode and so are you. How are people handling it? How might be a role model to encourage their continued strong effort?
Prepare for the final unit (A5 and A6). Have a tight plan and process in mind. It is a fast and furious assignment, but the results are truly wonderful and provide as direct an assessment of student outcomes from a course as any we can imagine.
Don’t hesitate to ask any of the Comp Administrators for ideas if you’re stumped about a lecture or lesson.